Book Corner: A look at this year’s Cafe Book selections

“Buzzing” by Samuel Sattin and Rye Hickman. Isaac suffers from OCD and intrusive thoughts that buzz like bees in his mind, which makes his complicated teenage life even worse. It’s hard to get through school, friendships and family life with negative thoughts constantly bombarding you. When Isaac gets invited to join a fantasy role-playing game he finds a place where his mind quiets. He makes new friends. It could be the best thing he’s ever done, but his mom and his therapist are worried and Isaac must navigate those additional challenges. This story shows how the graphic novel format can elevate a story with the combination of text and visuals. Isaac’s intrusive thoughts are drawn as bees buzzing around his head, with word balloons of negative thoughts coming from the bees. Even better than text alone, these illustrations convey how the intrusive thoughts feel to Isaac.

“Code Name Kingfisher” by Liz Kessler. Liv has always had a hard time connecting with her grandmother, who is distant and frosty. When a school assignment gets Liv digging into her family history, she uncovers a sad and shocking story from her grandmother’s life during World War II that changes how Liv sees her grandmother. Alternating between Liv’s contemporary life and her grandmother’s life as a teenager during the war, this book gradually brings together the storylines of their lives as their relationship also builds. A story of family, loss and reconciliation.

“The Last Bloodcarver” by Vanessa Le. Nhika has spent her life hiding her true identity as a Bloodcarver, one who can alter another person’s body just by touching them. Persecuted and hunted as murderers rather than healers, Nhika constantly lives on the edge. When she is captured by a vigilante group who then auctions her to the highest bidder, she knows her life could be over. The rich and powerful family that brings her home needs her healing abilities but she also finds herself acting as detective, trying to unwind a murder mystery. An interesting mix of fantasy, mystery and action, this book gets off to a fast start that grabs readers from the first pages.

“Mexikid” by Pedro Martín. In this hilarious and heartfelt memoir set in the 1970s, Martín recounts how his parents and eight brothers and sisters crammed into a Winnebago and drove two thousand miles to Mexico in an epic family road trip to retrieve his ailing grandfather and bring him to the United States. A touching story about a boy coming to know his family in a deeper way and figuring out a lot about himself as well.

“The Ruby Code” by Jessica Khoury. In a future world driven by technology, the only escape Ash can find from his poverty and violence-ridden life is in virtual reality games. When he helps a man during a brutal attack on the street one night, Ash is given access to a new game. But it is not just a game and soon Ash finds himself trying to evade a group of men clearly on the hunt for him in real life. Trying to figure out why he has become the target of some very powerful people while also trying to figure out what the game has to do with it puts Ash on a dangerous road, but one he is committed to following. Even non-gamers will get pulled in by this story of an underdog trying to defeat the bad guys.